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Jack Glass Paperback – October 1, 2013
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Golden Age SF meets Golden Age Crime in this British Science Fiction Award winner for best novel, from the author of Swiftly, New Model Army, and Yellow Blue Tibia
Jack Glass is the murderer—we know this from the start. Yet as this extraordinary novel unfolds, readers will be astonished to discover how he committed the murders and by the end of the book, their sympathies for the killer will be fully engaged. Riffing on the tropes of crime fiction (the country house murder, the locked room mystery) and imbued with the feel of golden age SF, this is another bravura performance from Roberts. Whatever games he plays with the genre, whatever questions he asks of the reader, Roberts never loses sight of the need to entertain. Filled with wonderfully gruesome moments and liberal doses of sly humor, this novel is built around three gripping HowDunnits that challenge notions of crime, punishment, power, and freedom.
- Print length374 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherGollancz
- Publication dateOctober 1, 2013
- Dimensions5 x 1 x 8 inches
- ISBN-100575127643
- ISBN-13978-0575127647
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"In the tradition of Swift, Orwell and Atwood." —Times
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- Publisher : Gollancz (October 1, 2013)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 374 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0575127643
- ISBN-13 : 978-0575127647
- Item Weight : 9.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 5 x 1 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,863,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #80,598 in Crime Thrillers (Books)
- #128,498 in Science Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Let me say at the start giving a summary of this HIGLY unusual book is not easy, but here goes.
The novel is divided into three parts, each at a different location and with a different mystery(s) or puzzle(s) to solve. The common thread in all three is the mysterious titular character - Jack Glass.
The first starts off on an asteroid where seven prisoners have been set to serve out their 11 year sentence. They must work together to survive and make themselves a habitable place to live and this requires them turning a tiny pocket of air in the frozen asteroid into a livable, breathable space. Not so easy, especially when you're talking about the cooperation of 7 hardcore and dangerous men. One of them is Jack Glass, and he must get off the asteroid before the formidable Ulanov family - the tyrannical family that runs the solar system and heads up its fearsome police system - finds out he is there.
The second section of the book has to do with a murder mystery. Two young scions of the power Argent family arrive on earth for a celebration of the upcoming 16th birthday of the youngest girl, Diana. Diana loves murder mysteries and is thrilled to be involved with one when a servant is killed. To say the least, things don't go as planned.
Lastly, the mystery of a man shot to death in a small enclosed spaceship. How do you explain it when no one is seen entering or leaving. And what does the resolution mean?
Reading this incredibly entertaining and unusual novel was a whole new reading experience for me, and I can't remember the last time I thought that. This was just different than anything I've read - and in a good way.
It took me almost a week to read the book, but not because I was bored in the least. Really the opposite - I would read a little bit and stop to think about it or walk around the house and was thrilled to get back to it. That's not my usual experience with books. If I enjoy something I will feel unable to put it down. With this book, I felt I had to stop for a break but still had that same giddy feeling when I'm reading something I love and when I'm transported to a different place and time. And in this case, to a different "world."
The writing itself is just superb. Here's an example, describing the servants running away. These servants have just landed on earth and are trying to get acclimated to gravity:
"But something had really spooked them, because they all came out through the main entrance, limbs ropey, lurching and staggering and tumbling like newly-born calves, the lot of them. Arms akimbo, legs refusing to bear their weight, falling over and picking themselves up."
The book is replete with wonderful passages and descriptions and you really don't want to miss a single word.
I do want to add one more thing - I am normally not a fan of science fiction (although I like fantasy literature and mysteries) and when I first realized that parts of this book take place in space, I was a little concerned. But I loved it and if you feel qualms about reading a combination of a type of Golden Age mystery with that of modern science fiction let me assure that this author pulls it off brilliantly.
Highly recommended.
“Glass” really is a love letter to the Golden Age- both in science fiction and in mysteries. While it is excellent sci fi in depiction of both technology and culture, this really is all about the mysteries- how done it/locked room rather than whodunit. While the first section (episode? story?) is much more grim, claustrophobic and violent than you will find in the Golden Age it does have the feel of Christie’s “And Then There Were None” and the second has the flavor of a traditional Country House mystery. The final section is more Golden Age sci fi like the mysteries of Isaac Asimov.
Glass is a very dense read and it took me longer to read than most books of the same length. But that was fine- I enjoyed every minute of it. I’ve now downloaded samples of Roberts’ other books to prioritize what’s next :)
There is a lot of dream sequencing. I don't know who said that no one is interested in hearing about your dreams, but I find it to be true that I don't want to read about them in a story. But its how the 16 year old Diana figures things out, so there are a lot of dreams.
The fact that Diana is often quite unlovable, in the way that self involved teenagers can be, also means she's is often funny. Roberts nailed that vapid self involved teenager thing quite well. He has a good sense of their sense of confusion when the larger world exposes its backside to them. Diana is the privileged teenager you have probably met before, not a bad person, just so very unaware of reality, while supremely confident that she understands it in its entirety.
He ignores developing the third character, Sapho, almost entirely. She's practically a piece of luggage on the trip until the denouement, where she suddenly gets slid in like a soup ladle in the teaspoon drawer. I can see no logic to putting her in there, except to explain the fact that he mostly ignored her character. As a method of corrective revision, adding an intro and outro layer to the story feels like using bubble gum in place of super glue. In particular since the narrator of this story is omniscient and its impossible to see how that fits in with the intro/outro.
Finally the mystery, the plot, the story. It's a bit convoluted. Its held together by strings and they aren't tied very tight. And the ending is not particularly neat. But not all endings have to be neat. After all, life is rarely neat.
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For example, the genteel detective stories that inspired the book seem very far away from the opening instalment, in which a group of criminals work out their sentences excavating the guts of an otherwise uninhabited asteroid in order for it to become the habitation of the very rich. This section of the book is visceral, horrific and wholly unpredictable. The point of view character becomes ‘Jac’. Is he the titular Jack? He seems very passive, possibly because he has no legs and does not seem much of a threat to anyone. The convicts’ stories and personalities become clearer as they work, but it seems hopeless; the men are trapped for the duration of their eleven-year sentence with only the technology they have been left with to keep them alive. Despite this hopelessness, which is so well described you wonder what’s going to happen in the rest of the book, Jac appears to be working towards something… The denouement is as outrageous as it is unexpected but is pure SF.
SF is often about how the impossible might become possible but ‘Jack Glass’ weaves that idea into the fabric of the story itself, especially in the second segment, ‘The FTL Murders’. In this story, a servant is murdered and the ‘detective’ is one of two sisters in a family bred to process data. There is a vein of dark humour running through the stories like black ice in the first tale’s asteroid; in ‘The FTL Murders’ this manifests as the girl’s delight at having a ‘real life’ murder to solve. If the servants are dosed up with loyalty drugs and everyone is too weak from living off-world to wield the murder weapon, how on Earth (literally) did it happen?
Gravity is an important image in the stories; its absence or presence used in a variety of inventive ways; one chapter is even called ‘Gravity or Guilt?’ while one of the cults worships black holes. Religion plays a big part in the various conspiracies, based as it is on what is believed, which of course brings us back to what is possible and what isn’t. It also takes the ‘locked room’ murder mystery scenario and enlarges it into a universal model; that if faster-than-light travel was discovered and with it the means to escape the limitations of our galaxy, so too would the capacity for destruction. That this theory is expounded in relativistic terms as if it too were the final scene of a whodunit somehow makes it even more mind-expanding. The investigation unwraps a deeper conspiracy, involving rebellion against the ruling clan, played out against evidence of the wreck of alien civilisations, which let’s be honest you don’t get with Miss Marple.
The last section is called ‘The Impossible Gun’ and investigates the death of a famous policeman. This death was recorded on a robot, thus objectively verifying the facts of the case. However, as with the previous murder the death appears to make no sense. Now it is time as well as gravity that is called into question, again phrased in weird religious terms via a chase through various habitats such as 'Red Rum 2010'. That ‘Red Rum’ is ‘murder’ spelled backwards hints that even the text itself is chronologically unreliable, despite its presence on the page and our by now intense association with it. ‘Serendipity favours the angels’ says Jack Glass but who does he mean, really? The novel suggests that laws, of belief, science, politics or whatever are determined by how they can be broken rather than enforced. The hero’s motivation, when we learn it, is a great example of this duality and a satisfying end, although perhaps not for him…
Adam Roberts has written a masterful blend of genres that for all its joyful cleverness is also hugely enjoyable. Recommended.
Voici un livre qui aurait pu attirer mon attention par sa couverture, que je trouve superbe. Pourtant cela n'a pas été le cas, je suis tombée dessus par un conseil pêché je ne sais plus où, je n'avais même jamais entendu parler de l'auteur... Ce furent les avis sur les sites américains et anglais qui ont éveillé ma curiosité et m'ont fait télécharger l'extrait gratuit : à la moitié de la lecture de celui-ci j'étais conquise et j'ai cliqué.
Mon intérêt et mon plaisir de lecture n'ont jamais faibli, cela faisait longtemps (les Miles de Loïs McMaster Bujold ?) que je n'avais pas lu de SF qui réponde aussi précisément à mes attentes.
Pourtant la manière narrative de l'auteur est audacieuse et aurait très bien pu me rebuter : un personnage central mais flou, et surtout un assemblage de trois histoires qui semblent n'avoir en commun que leur thème central (une mort mystérieuse, à la Agatha Christie) annoncées par un court préambule, écrit par le narrateur, qui pique notre curiosité en nous présentant Jack Glass, un homme, ou peut-être un mythe, un meurtrier insaisissable en tout cas.
Que ceux qui seraient inquiétés par cette présentation ne s'y arrêtent pas : les trois récits sont assez linéaires, et mettent clairement en scène le héros, Jack Glass. Il est très aisé de s'y retrouver, les mystères sont ou bien pris à l'envers (le premier récit, où tout est vu de l'intérieur) où éclaircis à la fin de chaque histoire en mode Agatha Christie (pour les deux autres).
Le style est à mon sens parfait : assez littéraire, mais très fluide, ne nécessitant aucun effort de lecture (certains lecteurs se sont plaint d'ennui mortel, il suffit de lire l'extrait pour savoir si vous serez de leur avis ou du mien).
La manière d'écriture est tout simplement exceptionnelle : la mise en scène des personnages, l'amenée des informations (de l'anti infodump par excellence, une prouesse), la façon de surprendre le lecteur, de lui faire apprécier certains personnages contre toute attente ou contre toute raison, l'ambiance, etc.
Le premier récit à lui seul justifierait mes 5 * : une lecture addictive et fluide, alors que le thème n'avait absolument rien pour me séduire !
Une demi-douzaine d'hommes, punis pour des infractions modérées (oui, la loi dans ce futur ne rigole pas !) dont la peine a été "vendue" aux Gongsi, une sorte de guilde commerciale hyper pragmatique, se retrouvent abandonnés pour 11 ans dans une petite cavité hâtivement creusée dans un astéroïde par le vaisseau qui les y abandonne, avec moins que le plus strict minimum.
S'ils survivent ils seront récupérés au bout des 11 ans et les Gongsi récupéreront l'astéroïde bien creusé pour le vendre au prix fort comme habitation (ça ne parait pas très cosy, pourtant on comprend ensuite comment vit la plus grande partie de l'humanité et donc pourquoi habiter dans un caillou peut paraître sympathique...)
Amateurs de Koh-Lanta, lancez-vous, c'est la même chose en mille fois pire !!
Les hommes, qui ne se connaissent pas et ne se supportent déjà plus, font devoir survivre, ou du moins essayer, en travaillant comme des forçats à aménager des cavités dans l'astéroïde, seule manière de trouver de l'eau et de s'oxygéner, puis de faire pousser des sortes de graines, qui assurent une alimentation complète si ce n'est très appétissante. La suite est fascinante et pourtant horrible, rien ne nous est épargné.
Les personnages se dessinent vite et bien, en particulier Jac, un des caractères soumis de l'équipe... ah oui, pour un héros il a une particularité physique tout à fait spéciale !
Le temps passe (combien, comment le savoir ?) les choses avancent, s'organisent, les rapports entre les hommes empirent, certains conspirent, d'autres guettent et surveillent...
Quand la crise éclate, le lecteur n'est pas étonné, pourtant la chute ne manque pas de le surprendre quand même !
Le deuxième récit est très différent et bien moins oppressant. On y découvre deux sœurs, les héritières d'une des familles dominantes, hiérarchiquement situées juste en dessous des régents suprêmes, les Ulanovs. L'héroïne de ce récit, Diana, n'a pas encore 16 ans. Elle est gâtée, privilégiée, riche et surdouée - tout comme sa soeur aînée, Eva et ses deux mères (toutes des sortes de Clones, comprend-t-on vaguement, le récit reste un peu mystérieux, le prix à payer pour un récit fluide et crédible).
Les deux jeunes filles sont envoyées sur Terre pour un séjour d'un mois, à l'abri des complots qui couvent, accompagnées d'une poignée de serviteurs et de gardes du corps.
La vision de notre monde (une petite île méditerranéenne en été) par les yeux de Diana est incroyable de justesse et de dépaysement : la pesanteur en particulier (les deux autres récits sont en apesanteur, en mode "normal") qui fatigue et insupporte la jeune fille, toujours épuisée, obligée de porter des sortes d'attelles, le ciel bleu et non pas noir, la chaleur, la nature, les arbres, les étagères, la façon dont les liquides s'écoulent et s'écrasent au sol...
Ce récit permet également de comprendre peu à peu ce qu'est devenue l'humanité et comment elle vit, ou plutôt survit pour la plus grande partie d'entre elle.
Diana, d'abord pas loin d'être insupportable (tout à fait cohérent étant donné ses origines) devient peu à peu attachante. Sa personnalité à la fois de teenager (vocabulaire inventé drôle et inspiré) et de surdouée (capacité hors du commun à résoudre des énigmes des problèmes, en particulier dans son sommeil, un trait caractéristique de la famille) est très réussie.
On ne tarde pas à retrouver Jack, bien sûr, alors que Diana tente de comprendre la mort incompréhensible qui a frappé l'un de serviteurs (tous drogués de manière à ressentir un amour indéfectible et une loyauté sans faille envers la famille qu’ils servent - une très bonne idée, très bien exploitée).
La troisième partie est également intéressante, permettant de comprendre encore un peu plus précisément comme s'organise désormais la vie humaine. C'est la suite de l'histoire précédente, quelques mois plus tard, mais avec les mêmes personnages. Ce dernier récit permet également d'élucider la troisième mort mystérieuse, d'apprendre enfin ce qui motive Jack Glass, le célèbre meurtrier, et finit par une note douce-amère, tout en laissant quelques petits fils traîner, promettant, j'espère, une suite !
Le sous-titre du livre répond à ses promesses sous-entendues : Jack Glass est un personnage tout à fait fascinant, aussi mystérieux qu'Arsène Lupin, difficile à reconnaître malgré sa caractéristique physique la plus criante (étant donné les mots et noms en français dans le texte, parfaitement orthographiés, je ne serais pas étonnée que l'auteur ait lui aussi pensé au personnage phare de Maurice Leblanc).
La manière dont Jack nous apparaît à la fois parfaitement monstrueux, presque un psychopathe, et incroyablement sympathique et humain est un exploit, tout comme la façon dont nous est présenté le dilemme classique : jusqu'où peut-on aller sous le prétexte du "meilleur pour tous" ?...
Enfin, bien que mes lectures SF ne soient pas très étendues, ce livre est pour moi l'un des meilleurs : j'ai en particulier adoré le parfum de réalité qui émane du récit, qui nous présente un futur possible, sans jamais céder à la facilité des comparaisons, en nous jetant simplement dans le bain, nous apportant les infos peu à peu, avec grâce et toujours un peu de mystère...
Like a great deal of modern British sci-fi, this book is well-written, with some lovely, easy prose. Unfortunately it also has the "look-at-me" cleverness, teenage economics/politics and unfunny jokes of much of modern British sci-fi as well.
The real problem with the book is that the titular character is very poorly and thinly drawn. We learn nothing of his motivations (beyond a Che Guevara poster on the wall type revolutionary creed) and most of the time he just murders people. He justifies that because apparently he is very important to "the cause" but that claim, let alone that moral claim, is not examined. He has no personality at all and calling him one-dimensional is flattering.
The secondary characters are also poorly drawn. In the second part, we are introduced to two sisters, and for a while the younger one in particular is given a real personality. In the third part however, that personality has vanished and she has become - well nothing really.
The other serious problem is that this book is supposed to be about mysteries - locked box escapes and murders. Now whilst the first one is fun, the second one is stupid and the third rubbish. You can forgive the nonsense in the first one as it is clever and funny, but after that, things fall apart.
For example, the second part is ostensibly about the murder of a servant. The murder takes place in the servant's quarters, and we are told that the AI monitors who goes in and out of the quarters. But in this rigid, hierarchical situation, where the servants are dosed with drugs to make them loyal, where they are tracked at all times we are expected to believe that once inside their quarters, the servants are not monitored in any way!
There are numerous other problems with the mysteries, but suffice it to say that they really are full of holes (read the book, pun intended).
It's a shame, because there is some really good stuff here, but I ended up hugely frustrated by the book. It is probably unfair, but as I neared the end I had a vision of a Guardian-reading author, lounging in Soho House and chortling with his friends about how clever his latest book is. And it isn't. It's OK but with more work, more thought it could have been great.




